Adjustable golf putter

ABSTRACT

A golf putter having a telescoping shaft and a swivel connection permitting the upper portions of the shaft and the grip to be angled relative to the main portion of the shaft and the putter head. The swivel connection allows the upper portion of the shaft to pivot in a plane parallel to the ball-striking face.

United States Patent Palotsee 15 3,663,019 [4 1 May 16, 1972 [54]ADJUSTABLE GOLF PUTTER [72] Inventor: John J. Palotsee, J. P. Putter &Guide Company. Box 1225, Youngstown, Ohio 44501 [22] Filed: Jan. 28,1970 [21] AppLNo; 6,471

[52] US. Cl. 273/813, 273/80 D, 273/78, 273/802 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b53/16 [58] FleldoiSearch "ZN/80.79.81.812,813, 273/81.4, 162, 165, 183,193, 194, 77 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,325,5257/1943 Lukenbill 273/813 2,488,562 1 H1949 Schwarzkopf. 3,341,203 9/1967Brill 3,514,106 5/1970 Picotte 1,616,377 2/1927 Knight 1,201,728 10/1916Henry et al. ..273/81.3

3,284,] 14 11/1966 McCord et a1. .273/ D UX 1,535,707 4/1925 Bames...."2 73/79 760,161 5/1904 Smith ..273/1 FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS26,976 12/1 91 1 Great Britain ..273/8l.3 437,905 1 H1935 Great Britain....273/81 .2 15,696 9/1928 Australia ..273/ D 569,266 5/1945 GreatBritain ..273/79 Primary xaminer-Richard C. Pinkham AssistantExaminer-Richard J. Apley Attorney-Peter L. Klempay ABSTRACT A golfputter having a telescoping shaft and a swivel connection permitting theupper portions of the shaft and the grip to be angled relative to themain portion of the shaft and the putter head.

The swivel connection allows the upper portion of the shaft to pivot ina plane parallel to the ball-striking face.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENTEB m 16 m2 INVENTOR. JOHN J. PALOTSEEAGENT Willy/III,

ADJUSTABLE GOLF PU'I'IER This invention relates to a golf putter andmore particularly to an improved shaft arrangement for a golf putterwhich permits the user to adjust the putter so as to obtain maximumcontrol and comfort.

Conventional golf putters are provided with a straight shaft with a gripat its upper end. With such a putter the golfcrs hand must be held in anawkward position and it is difficult to properly align the striking faceof the putter with the ball and especially difficult to maintain thisalignment when swinging the putter. Since, with the conventionalstraight shaft, the head of the putter is held close to the users bodyit is difficult to accurately sight from the striking face of the putterto the hole into which the golf ball is to be driven. Anotherdisadvantage of conventional putters is that the shaft is of a fixedlength and, while this difficulty is partially overcome by manufacturingputters having different lengths shafts, it is not feasible tomanufacture putters of a sufficient variety of lengths to be ideallysuitable for all golfers. The fixed lengths of the putter shafts alsonecessitate the stocking of a great number of putters by golf supplyshops.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improvedgolf putter in which the putter may be held in a comfortable position bythe user. A further object of the invention is a provision of a golfputter which enables the user to accurately sight from the putter faceto the hole and to accurately align the putter face with the golf ball.It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improvedgolf putter in which the length of the shaft may be readily adjusted tosuit the needs of the individual golfer.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent upon consideration of the following specification and theaccompanying drawing wherein there is shown a preferred embodiment ofthe invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view showing a golfer using the putter of myinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the golf putter of my invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of FIG. 2', and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the head portion of the putter of myinvention, taken along the line VI--VI of FIG. 2.

Referring first to FIGS. 2-6, the golf putter of my invention will nowbe described. The putter 10 consists of a handle portion 11, a shaft 12,and a head portion 13. The handle or grip portion l I may be constructedofleather or rubber in the conventional manner to provide a grippingsurface for the golfers hands. The grip II is secured to the end of theupper portion 14 of the shaft 12. It should be noted that the grip 11 issecured to the shaft portion 14 at an angle of slightly less than 180.The upper shaft portion 14 is connected to an intermediate shaft portion15 by an adjustable connection 16 to be described in more detail below.The lower end of the intermediate shaft section 15 is telescopicallyconnected to a lower shaft portion 17 by a connection 18, also to bedescribed in more detail below. The lower end of the shaft section 17 isridgedly secured to the putter head 13.

As will be seen in FIG. 3, the connection 16 consists of a disc-likemember 19 secured to the upper shaft portion 14, a cap-like member 20secured to the intermediate shaft portion 15 and a bolt 21 passingthrough the member 19 and received in a threaded hole 22 of the member20. The mating surfaces of the members I9 and 20, which are normal tothe axis of the bolt 2l, are provided with radially extending ribs orcorrugations 23. The member 19 is also provided with an angular recess24 to reduce the weight of a member. The bolt 21 is provided with anenlarged head 27 which completely covers the outer face of the member 19so as to exert uniform clamp ing force to the member 19 when the bolt 21is tightened. The

circumference of the head 27 of the bolt 21 may be provided with aserrated edge to enable the user to securely grip the head 27 whentightening or loosening the bolt 21. The outwardly projecting lugs 25and 26 of the members 19 and 20, respectively, are of hexagonalcross-section and are thus received in the hexagonal crowsectional boresof the shaft portions 14 and 15, respectively, without twisting.

The connection 18, illustrated in FIG. 5, consists of an arrangernentfor tightly clamping the telescoping tube portions 15 and 17. Theintermediate shaft member I5 is formed of a round tube having ahexagonal bore. The lower shaft portion 17 is formed of a length ofround tubing of a diameter sufficiently small as to permit the lowershaft portion 17 to move freely in the bore of the intermediate shaftportion 15. The upper end of the tube forming the lower shaft portion I7is provided with an enlarged portion 28 which makes a close sliding fitwith the hexagonal bore of the intermediate shaft portion 15. The end 28of the portion I7 is of hexagonal crosssection and may be formed byforging the upper end of the tube 17 or maybe a separate member rigidlysecured to the ends of the tube 17. In either event, the ends 28 permitsaxial movement between the shaft members 15 and 17 while preventing anyrotational movement between these members. The lower end of theintermediate shah member 15 is externally threaded. A collar 30 isscrewed on to the threading portion 29 of the intermediate shaft portion15. The lower end of the tube 15 is provided with a 45 inwardly directedbevel 31. A metal washer 32 is positioned adjacent the bevel 31 and arubber ring 33 is positioned between the washer 32 and the lower end 34of the sleeve or collar 30. As the collar 30 is screwed on the threadedportion 29 of the intermediate shaft 15 the rubber ring 33 is compressedbetween the washer 31 and the end portion 34 of the collar 30. The axialcompresing of the ring 32 causes the ring to exert a force radiallyagainst the lower shaft member 17, tightly clamping the members 15 and17 together.

The head portion 13 of the putter, shown in FIG. 6, has a flat strikingface 35 which is provided with a rubber insert 36 along the majorportion of the face 35. Rearwardly of the face 35, the head portion 13is provided with a raised portion 37 having a vertical hole 38 extendingdownwardly from its upper surface for receiving the prong of an aligningdevice 41, which may be of the type shown in my earlier application,Ser. No. 647,032, filed June I9, 1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,830,issued Sept. 22, l970. The hole 38 has a cross-sectional configurationsuch that the prong of the aligning device 4] may be inserted in onlyone position, thus assures the correct alignment of the device. The side40 of the head portion I3 immediatcly adjacent the face 35 extendsupwardly into the neck-like portion 39 and the lower end of the tube 17is rigidly secured to this projection 39. By attaching the shaft 17 tothe head 13 at a location close to the ball striking face 35, the weightof the rear portion 37 and the aligning device 4| is offset and the clubretains a balanced feel.

As will be seen from FIG. I, the angled portion of the shaft 15 and theconnecting neck 39 allow the head 13 of the putter to be positioned wellforward of the golfer while yet allowing him to keep his hands close tohis body, thus improving the golfers control of the movement of theputter. The connection 16 permits the golfer to vary the distance thehead 13 is located in front of him by varying the angle between theupper portion 15 and the intermediate portion 16 of the shaft. Thisconnection also permits the golfer to vary the angle at which he gripsthe putter to achieve the most comfortable position. The connection 18also aids the golfer in holding the club at the position which is mostcomfortable and which gives the greatest control by permitting him toadjust the length of the putter shaft. Since the head 13 of the putteris positioned well forward of the golfer's feet, the golfer may easilysight downwardly to the head 13 and to the hole to which the ball is tobe putted.

I claim:

1. A golf putter, comprising:

a putter head having a planar ball-striking face;

a first shaft section extending upwardly from the putter a connectingmember engaging the upper end of the first head in parallel but offsetrelation to the plane of the ballshaft section and the lower subsectionof the second shaft striking face; section and including means toprevent rotation of the a second shaft section telescopingly received onthe upper shaft sections relative to one another and means to end of thefirst section, the second shaft section consisting 5 r lea a ly Pr ntliding mo ement of One shafi section of first and second subsections anda pivotal connection l'filtfltlve t0 the other; and between the firstand second subsections permitting a 8 secured to the "PP" and f the PPP"Wbuctton of pivotal movement of one subsection relative to the otherttte second shaft mttonthe 8 P bung p from the subsection only in aplane parallel to the ball-striking Ptvotal Fonnectton and at an obtuseangle to the upper face, the connection including means to releasablyhold 10 subsecuon' the subsection in fixed relation to one another;

1. A golf putter, comprising: a putter head having a planarball-striking face; a first shaft section extending upwardly from theputter head in parallel but offset relation to the plane of theball-striking face; a second shaft section telescopingly received on theupper end of the first section, the second shaft section consisting offirst and second subsections and a pivotal connection between the firstand second subsections permitting pivotal movement of one subsectionrelative to the other subsection only in a plane parallel to theball-striking face, the connection including means to releasably holdthe subsection in fixed relation to one another; a connecting memberengaging the upper end of the first shaft section and the lowersubsection of the second shaft section and including means to preventrotation of the shaft sections relative to one another and means toreleasably prevent sliding movement of one shaft section relative to theother; and a grip secured to the upper end of the upper subsection ofthe second shaft section, the grip being spaced from the pivotalconnection and at an obtuse angle to the upper subsection.